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Many African leaders confirm participation in Russia-Africa summit — diplomat

"You saw both from the SPIEF (St. Petersburg International Economic Forum - TASS) as well as from the meetings the president [of Russia Vladimir Putin] held with a delegation of the leaders of African countries that African nations and their leaders are set to develop constructive dialogue with Russia on a wide range of problems, from Ukraine to direct issues linked with our bilateral relations," Oleg Ozerov said

MOSCOW, June 19. /TASS/. A host of African leaders have confirmed their participation in the Russia-Africa summit due to be held in St. Petersburg in July, Russian Foreign Ministry’s Ambassador at Large Oleg Ozerov said on Monday.

"Many," he said, answering a TASS question. He noted, however, that it would not be appropriate to say exactly how many African leaders plan to attend the event right now because Moscow continues to receive confirmations "every day."

"It wouldn’t be right to speak about that now. Thus, we received one more note today," said Ozerov, who chairs the Secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum.

"You saw both from the SPIEF (St. Petersburg International Economic Forum - TASS) as well as from the meetings the president [of Russia Vladimir Putin] held with a delegation of the leaders of African countries that African nations and their leaders are set to develop constructive dialogue with Russia on a wide range of problems, from Ukraine to direct issues linked with our bilateral relations," he added.

The second Russia-Asia summit and economic forum are scheduled to be held in St. Petersburg from July 26-29. The first such summit was held in Sochi from October 22-24, 2019 under the motto "For Peace, Security, and Development."

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